Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2)

Marcus Hardy had hoped to enjoy a year away at college while he put the summer he’d rather forget behind him. But instead, he’s jerked right back to the coastal town of Sea Breeze, Alabama due to a family crisis. His dear ol’ dad found himself a girlfriend only a few years older than Marcus. So now his sister needs help dealing with their mother who is mentally falling apart. The only bright spot to returning is the fascinating red head who sleeps over several times a week. The problem is she’s sleeping in bed with his new roommate, Cage Watson.

Willow “Low” Foster needs a place to live. Running to Cage’s apartment every time her sister kicks her out isn’t exactly a long term solution. Juggling her courses at the local community college and a part time job doesn’t produce excess income. But Cage has a new roommate and suddenly sleeping over at her best friend’s apartment isn’t such a bad thing. Not when she gets to see those sexy green eyes of Marcus Hardy’s twinkle when he smiles at her like he wants her there.

Even though Cage seems a little territorial where Low is concerned, Marcus finds time to spend with Low without upsetting his roommate. Cage may use his small college baseball star persona to sleep with every hot female in his path but he’s still under the disillusion that when he’s through sowing his wild oats, he’s going to marry Low. Marcus intends to change that assumption for both Cage and Low. Until his carefully laid plans come crashing down with a revelation he never expected. He’ll have to choose between Low or his family. Because once the truth comes out…. there’s no other choice.

Goodreads Summary

This was the first time I’d read anything by Abbi Glines even though I have a couple of her books on my Kindle waiting for me to get to them. After finishing this, I moved them to the top of my leisure-reading TBR pile because if they’re anything like it they’ll be worth getting to faster.

Low Foster has a track record of being left by everyone in her life – her father, mother, low-life sister who kicks her out of her house on the nights she isn’t babysitting her niece – everyone that is, except her lifelong friend Cage. He’s fanatical about being there for her, including making sure she stays with him when her sister kicks her out. When his new roommate Marcus is attracted to her and Low wants to try a relationship with him, he warns her that everyone leaves her except him. Rich boy Marcus is out of her league and will hurt her and Cage will be around to pick up the pieces.

Holy cow. I honestly can’t remember what the last book was that I cried so much through. I checked the progress bar on my Kindle and I started at 59% and counted when I was done and had gone through 8 tissues. This book seriously wiped me out. I actually had to lie when my son wanted to know what was wrong with me – I told him I was reading a book and a bunch of people died because I didn’t want to tell him that I was crying because a girl was having a panic attack because she thought a friend was leaving her.

The narration flips between Marcus and Low and it definitely makes it more emotional to read. I really fell in love with Low who had this horribly battered heart but managed to love Cage, Marcus and her niece so fiercely. She wasn’t perfect – she got jealous and did things that were kind of silly and for someone her age, she was unbelievably sexually naïve. She just felt very real, from the way she spoke to the way she acted. I’d want her for a friend.

Both Marcus and Cage were pretty wonderful (although Cage being a man-slut sort of made him less adorable, you know?). Marcus made a number of mistakes with Low, some worse than others but they were slightly explainable if not excusable. His story is a little more divided than Low’s because he’s also dealing with his family so while she’s thinking of him almost the whole book, he’s involved with her for only about three-fourths of it. It sets up a very painful section of the book later, one that I’m estimating accounted for three tissues.

There are references to sex and a couple of sexual situations but nothing explicit. Low is a virgin and I really couldn’t tell you if she still is at the end of the book or not because it isn’t described.

I’d love to see Preston or Cage’s book next! I know Cage seems pretty irredeemable but he’s such a sweetheart really, he needs a nice girl to set him straight.

My Summary: I ended up reading this twice before writing this, because it was just that good and because I was trying to actually gather some coherent thoughts about it. This reminded me quite a bit of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, but without all of the controversy. Marcus and Low weren’t as explosive as Travis and Pidge, but the intensity of the relationship was there and I know I cried at least as much. If you read YA/New Adult romance, I’d buy it for you if I could – that’s how hard I recommend this one.

Comments

Your review manages to convey really well how much this book impacted you emotionally! When an author is able to make the reader care that much about the characters, that’s a wonderful sign. Thanks very much for giving me a better idea of what this book is like! :)